Wanted: Bar staff for UK’s most remote pub

The Puff Inn serves MOD staff based on Hirta, the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago - 112 miles west of the Scottish mainland. Picture: Ian Rutherford/TSPL NNL-160720-160037001

Published:16:06Wednesday 20 July 2016

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IT IS the most remote pub in the British Isles, with a clientele of no more than 20.

Now the Puff Inn on St Kilda is advertising for a new steward to take over the running of the bar and keep its small but loyal band of regulars happy.

Potential applicants need not worry about being rushed off their feet. The pub is not open to the public and only serves Ministry of Defence staff based on Hirta, the largest island in the Atlantic archipelago, as well as a handful of conservationists.

The ability “to work on your own initiative” is listed as a key requirement for candidates.

The last of St Kilda’s native population were famously evacuated at their own request in 1930. Now the only people to live on the islands, which lie 112 miles west of the Scottish mainland, are civilian contractors based at a missile monitoring station, and seasonal volunteers working to preserve its outstanding natural beauty.

The Puff Inn was closed to the public in August 2005, reportedly after a fight erupted between two yachtsmen.

The bar was originally built as a canteen for military staff in the 1960s but was gradually opened to all those passing through the islands.

It became popular with those brave enough to sail to St Kilda across the regularly choppy seas as well as cruise passengers.